Electro-Harmonix XO Stereo Memory Man With Hazarai Delay Guitar Effects Pedal

The SMMH is a bit tricky to dial in, and easy to get unsatisfying sounds from. The EHX forums have some helpful quick-start settings, and its worth going there to get an idea of where to start with this thing. Once its dialed in, it sounds really nice. You can save one preset for each delay type. When you select a preset, the knob values are ignored, so it it a little glitchy when you start at a preset and then want to change a setting (because the knob starts at knob value, not preset value the moment you turn it). Once you get used to that, though, its great. I dont do a lot of dialing on the fly, so the presets work great for me. The looper is a nice add-on -- I dont do much looping so the 30 seconds or so is enough for my occasional use. Some reviews found the looper to be tricky but i think its really intuitive. Get this for the delay, not the looper function. Note this pedal wants 200mA of juice, so a lot of pedal power boxes won't supply that. Mine was glitchy when I fed it 100mA; works fine at 200mA.

After having owned this pedal for a little over a year now, I can say that I am more than happy with what is currently the most expensive pedal on my board. At 220.00$'s, this is not the worlds cheapest delay by any means, however you do certainly get what you pay for. The Memory Man includes a plethora of great features such as tap tempo, 300ms delay, 3 second, 1 second, modulation delays and stereo input/output in a very rugged shell. The knobs are all built very solidly, are easy to use and very responsive, and the included preset selection really makes this the must have digital delay as far as features go. As great as this pedal is, there are some drawbacks. Obviously, the price is very steep which may ward away many potential buyers who are speculative of the digital delay market. I find that the more knobs a pedal has, the steeper the learning curve is on the pedal, and this is definitely the case with this particular one. It has taken me nearly a full year to unlock all the nifty little things you can do with this pedal, and ever longer to master it's ability to be used on stage. Unfortunately, the included reverse delay is almost useless unless you are incorporating both a dry and a wet signal as a very liberal amount of delay must be dialed in, in order for the reverse function to activate. I have never once bought a pedal for the looks of the shell and have never expected the finish to hold up for more than about a year of heavy gigging, however, the Memory Man has surprised me. The finish is as glowing and bright as the day I purchased the pedal. Being made of a bulky cast iron shell, this is a hefty pedal for sure. It's rubber feet very easily left their marks in my carpet from the weight of the pedal alone, which is another plus. Over all, this is the one and only digital delay pedal anyone should ever need.

I have owned this delay for about 6 months now. It has a crazy amount of features. However, the one knock on this delay is that it doesn't have the ability to have subdivisions. I know it's easy enough to count out a dotted eighth delay, but when you are on stage the ability to quickly tap it in is very helpful. Besides, most digital delays can do this. However, the repeats are clear and there are so many useful features that this pedal stays on my board.

So if you like a delay pedal with amazing tone and textures this is the pedal for you. Each mode can create a distinct sound and in the modulation setting even create chorus and flanger like effects. A smart reverse echo and the ability to fade an echo in makes this pedal amazing. I've owned this pedal and use it consistantly on stage and at home. The only downfall is the Hazarai knob because yes you do have to bend down and change the effect manually. Other than that this pedal has changed my perspective on delay pedals and what textures and sounds they can produce. I recommend this pedal to anyone, and I also RECOMMEND is to go to EHX.com and watch the demonstration for ideas on how to use the modulation, reverse delay, and the loop function. This is also an amazing loop pedal that is easy to use. Worth every penny and more.

This pedal is WONDERFUL. Full of great possibilities and sonically it rocks! Very deep yet I got it up and running in no time (1/2 hour) and did a gig the night I bought it and it went over like gangbusters. The controls work great, the looper is robust; I do wish it would loop a bit more seamlessly, small frustration with that. All the other features outweigh that 100 to 1. Once you turn off the delay switch the loop is still in it's memory, I find this such a great feature. Well worth the money! BY FAR....

The SMMH is a totally amazing delay pedal. I used to own the DD-3 but traded it in for this and was very very satisfied. Its got great, clean delay tone with all the features you would ever need. Only thing i would like it maybe a way to switch modes without using the Hazari knob...otherwise excellent pedal